Sophie Gunn left Launceston Church Grammar School as a student and returned as a Grade 5 teacher on the Junior Campus at the start of this year. An alumna from 2010, Ms Gunn undertook a Bachelor of Primary Education in Melbourne before embarking on a career that has taken her all the way to London and also the challenges of two years of COVID lockdown in Melbourne.
Her initial interest in teaching came from coaching hockey and then led her towards the classroom. Her focus as an educator is in taking the opportunity to build rewarding, strong, honest relationships with her students, helping and watching their minds grow. She has developed a particular love of Maths and indigenous culture as she progresses further into her career as an educator. Sophie still coaches hockey to this day.
Ms Gunn’s post-degree teaching mainly took place in Victoria before she travelled to the UK to take up several positions in and around London. Her time there gave her a unique opportunity to become familiar and confident with teaching the UK curriculum and work with diversity in the classroom. Sophie encouraged learners to have respect for their own and others’ cultures, by embedding activities such as the language of the month and around the world day in her practice.
Having taught for two years in Melbourne during COVID lockdown further developed the importance of planning and delivering lessons that are engaging, diverse and adaptive, to fit students’ social and emotional needs during this time.
Like many of our Primary Years Educators, Sophie has been inspired by Reggio Emilia Approach and Kath Murdoch‘s Power of Inquiry. In addition, she has undertaken Professional Development in Big Write, focusing on delivering writing skills that motivate the children, and also within her special interest areas of Mathematics. In training to utilise the Mathletics and VCOP programmes, Ms Gunn can engage her students in fun and interactive curriculum-aligned activities.
It is always a pleasure and honour to have students return to the school as educators and we welcome Ms Gunn warmly back to Launceston Grammar.
